Angry Deaf People Productions finalist for “People’s Choice Award”
RENCA DUNN, DAILY MOTH REPORTER:
An independent Deaf film company named Angry Deaf People Productions sent in one of their films titled “How To Caption Your Movie” for a film festival called “Moment Invitational Film Festival.” Angry Deaf People Productions made it to the top 15 finalists and now they need your support. We will show you a short clip of their video.
[Video clip from YouTube/Angry Deaf People Productions:
ANDREW MORRILL: Captioning is a significant aspect of filmmaking and yet the independent film scene often overlook it. Ironically, they’re well-known for their inclusivity… except for the Deaf people. Our director, who attended several film festivals, can count how many movies were captioned on one hand.
CHARLIE AINSWORTH is holding up two fingers.
MORRILL: If you’re watching this, odds are your film is not captioned. Here we go, the first lesson.
Large text on screen: “LESSON ONE: TRANSCRIPTION]
DUNN:
That film festival has 5 different categories. There were a total of 581 submissions to this festival. The film festival committee picked the top 3 finalists for each category. One of the categories is “How To” category. The Angry Deaf People Productions’ film made it to top 3 finalists for the “How To” category. They got $1,000 for being the top 3 finalists and they also got $5,000 for having the best film award out of the top 3 finalists in the category. So, they have a total of $6,000.
[Video clip of Moment Invitational giving the award and check to Angry Deaf People Productions in an online announcement. A spokesperson asks for a check, for a drum roll, and announces the winner as “How to Caption Your Movie” by Charlie Ainsworth. The spokesperson(s) jump and cheer.]
[Video clip of actor Andrew Morrill, director Charlie Ainsworth, and colleague Randy Pituk in a group FaceTime conversation reacting to the win by cheering]
CHARLIE AINSWORTH, FOUNDER, ANGRY DEAF PEOPLE PRODUCTIONS:
I did not expect that at all. The worst part was that when they announced the 15 winners, ours were at the last. So I was waiting and thought I didn’t win until the last minute! Wow. Angry Deaf People has been fighting for captioning in the film industry, especially with the independent film industry. They have a major problem with captioning because it is not required by the ADA. Also, that particular festival, “Moment” — I participated last year, not the one just now where I won, but last year I submitted another film. When I watched other competitors and their films, many of them did not caption it or provided subpar autogenerated captions. So I wanted to make a point. They need to caption their movies for better accessibility. So we made that film.
[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://bit.ly/2RyMogR ]
DUNN:
Now, they are competing against the other top 3 finalists for each of the other categories. They are competing against the others for $10,000. This is where they need your support! That prize is called, “People’s Choice Award.” This means you get to vote for the best film. So, they need your support for their film!
[Screenshots of the voting platform on www.momentinvitational.com] Text reads, “Voting ends July 10.”
DUNN: You can follow the Angry Deaf People Productions on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. The voting link is in this transcript. We, the Daily Moth, wish the Angry Deaf People Productions good luck!